Having come to the police station as a perpetrator for the first time in my life, I gave Lee Hyeonseok’s phone number when they asked for a guardian’s contact. After that, well. The secretary answered instead of Lee Hyeonseok, and when I relayed the message to the secretary, he said he’d look into it and call back, then hung up.
Meanwhile, I gave my statement about the whole incident to the police, and the police spoke pathetically with a dumbfounded expression.
“Are you seriously saying that right now?”
I ended up giving my statement again—about an incident that even I couldn’t believe—to a detective who seemed to have become the person in charge of my case rather than the regular police. My body was so hot, maybe because coming here as a perpetrator was so embarrassing it was beyond shameful. The detective also spoke with an expression that said he was truly dumbfounded, just like the police officer, but I felt wronged. Let me say this again: I really didn’t mean to do it.
“But, that’s really what happened….”
The detective made a disgusted face at my excuse. He also looked slightly annoyed. He was shaking his head too, looking at me like I was a juvenile delinquent. Sure, I had drunk a bit and injured Cheon Jaekyung’s precious parts and made him pass out, but it was an accident to the end. Moreover, as of a few days ago, I was no longer a minor, so that gaze felt a bit unfair. Still, in this situation, being a minor might have been better.
“Ha….”
As expected, since I’m also human, I was thinking about what would be advantageous for me when suddenly the detective let out a sigh and shoved the monitor in front of him right in my face. It was a video, and it showed me and Cheon Jaekyung talking. The quality was clear and it was shot from close up.
“Student. This is dashcam footage from the car that was right next to you two, you know?”
The detective fast-forwarded the video and paused it at the part where Cheon Jaekyung kicked me. Watching the footage of Cheon Jaekyung hitting me first, I carefully protested to the detective that I was wronged.
“Look. That bastard threw the first punch….”
“Yeah. Student. Watch carefully?”
The detective ignored my protest and tapped the monitor screen with his finger, telling me to concentrate and watch carefully. When I leaned my head forward to focus on the screen, the detective played the video.
The part where Cheon Jaekyung threw the first punch and kicked me was clearly captured. After coughing for a while, when I looked up at Cheon Jaekyung, he was speaking while bending at the waist. My eyes were a bit unfocused, maybe because I’d been hit. If I wasn’t careful, I might look like a drunk person. Anyway, it was just as I remembered. Up until here, at least.
What came next was strange. In the CCTV, after I looked at Cheon Jaekyung’s face once, I was staring intently at Cheon Jaekyung’s crotch. To be precise, at Cheon Jaekyung’s important parts. Like a viper calculating the kill angle. In my memory, I had definitely raised my head toward Cheon Jaekyung’s face, but my actual gaze and hands were directed elsewhere.
And while Cheon Jaekyung was saying something, I was rising up toward the center of Cheon Jaekyung’s body. When the startled Cheon Jaekyung twisted his body, I was briefly surprised, but my hand quickly changed course. Toward Cheon Jaekyung’s precious place. And then I roared. There was no sound, but judging by the lip movements, it was “Die.”
“?”
I rubbed my eyes wondering if I’d seen correctly. The detective paused the video with perfect timing right as I rubbed my eyes. After blinking my eyes open and looking at the screen again, he pressed play.
In the video, I roared “Die!” and headed toward Cheon Jaekyung’s precious place, but I seemed to be losing strength and was about to fall. Perhaps trying not to fall, I grabbed Cheon Jaekyung’s clothes with my right hand first. Cheon Jaekyung was startled but quickly regained his composure and tried to push me away. At that moment, my left hand grabbed Cheon Jaekyung’s testicles tight and twisted. Cheon Jaekyung made a pained face and screamed.
No matter how you looked at it, it was intentional. It was completely different from my memory.
When Cheon Jaekyung collapsed, I collapsed with him. Perhaps not having expected to fall, my face wore a surprised expression. Maybe I was quite shocked, because my eyes that had been unfocused the whole time were now clear. Only then did I seem like a person who had come to their senses. It seemed like I didn’t know what had just happened. Eventually, I pressed hard on what I was gripping like a lifeline and quickly got up. Cheon Jaekyung finished screaming and passed out.
After that, it was the same as my memory. I couldn’t say anything and just stared at the police. An awkward and heavy silence settled for a moment, but the detective let out a big sigh and opened his mouth.
“The residents’ testimonies all say they heard you yell ‘Die!’ Playing innocent won’t help.”
“N-no…. That can’t be…. I really have no memory of that.”
“Student. If it really looked like an accident, why would the residents have called the police?”
“Because it was a serious accident scene…?”
The detective looked at me as if he was sick of this now, then eventually made a pitying face. It was a face that said ‘You’re really fucked from now on, this is bad.’
“Student, what are you really going to do?”
“Pardon?”
“The hospital called earlier. They said that student will probably become a eunuch. They said they’ll try their best, but he’ll probably become a eunuch.”
“A eunuch…?”
I had to recall the meaning of eunuch for a moment. Eunuch. A person with sexual dysfunction. While I was thinking and thinking about whether that was really the meaning I was thinking of, the detective sighed.
“Yeah. You just turned a chaebol’s second son into a eunuch.”
I blinked my eyes and diligently ruminated on what the police had said, but it just didn’t sink in. Because it was too nonsensical.
“Well, what kind of conversation can I have with a kid reeking of alcohol like this?”
“Where is the student who injured our young master?”
Alcohol smell? At the detective’s words, I lifted my arm and sniffed. There was definitely a smell of alcohol. The moment I was about to open my mouth for self-defense, about three men burst into the police station. Their suited appearance and cold faces were scary. Several police officers approached them asking what was going on.
“Ah, I’m Attorney Ji Seokho.”
“We’d like to meet the student who injured our young master.”
“Just a moment. Please talk to us first.”
“No need. We….”
I’m fucked. Really fucked. So fucking fucked. Cheon Jaekyung’s lawyer and secretary had come looking for me. I felt my mind snap to attention.
“Um, has Lee Hyeonseok not arrived yet?”
“Tsk tsk. No, he hasn’t…. Ah, I asked you for your name and your parents’ number?”
I asked the detective in front of me with an anxious heart. The detective answered as if he felt quite sorry for me. Then he demanded my personal information and my parents’ information. I kept my mouth firmly shut. Just in case, I didn’t open my mouth about my personal information.
“Are you the student who injured our young master Cheon Jaekyung?”
“Uh…. Ah… Yes….”
“What’s your name?”
“Hey now. Let’s talk with us first.”
“If you want to keep working this job, you’d better stay quiet.”
True to being Cheon Jaekyung’s people, the pressure was intense and they were good at power harassment. The police who had been blocking them in front of me became mute like someone who’d eaten honey at their power harassment. Perhaps out of remaining conscience, they couldn’t easily leave, but they couldn’t stop them from approaching me either.
“I’m Secretary Yoo Seonwoo. I heard you have video of the incident.”
“Yes. We do, but.”
“May we see it?”
The secretary and lawyer sized me up and down, then asked the detective for the video. It was called a request, but the voice was no different from an order. The detective looked around nervously a few times before showing them the video. While they were watching for a while, I heard a sound of lamentation from somewhere. It was the scene where Cheon Jaekyung’s center was grabbed.
“Student.”
“Yes….”
The secretary who had finished watching the video called me. The businesslike voice was even scarier. He didn’t look like he intended to let this go. Maybe because I had committed a sin, I couldn’t muster any spirit. But still, Cheon Jaekyung was the one who messed up my life first….
“You can probably guess that this won’t just be let go, right?”
“I’m truly sorry. I really didn’t mean to do it.”
“Looking at the video, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
The secretary began to seriously threaten me. I begged for now. I was making the excuses of the criminals I so despised. I felt self-loathing. Even though I felt wronged, I also felt considerably guilty. Having a conscience was this exhausting. But then the lawyer sneered. I felt a surge of anger for a moment but it quickly subsided.
“Let me tell you in advance, there will be no leniency from our side.”
“Ah! Wait, just.”
“You’ve caused irreversible damage to our second young master.”
It meant eunuch was confirmed. The secretary didn’t seem inclined to listen to me. Coming here was essentially the same as coming to deliver a notice. My complexion turned pale. My heart was pounding with anxiety. What if my parents hate me?
“We intend to take every legal action we can.”
“You’d better give up any hope that this can be brushed off as an accident or whatever.”
Tears naturally began to well up at the corners of my eyes. The police tried to calm things down, but they looked far too cold. Understandably so. The words of the secretary and lawyer felt so unreal that I was just listening stupidly. Then there was another commotion in the back. I was too busy swallowing what was in front of me to care, but the murmuring started to approach this way.
The secretary and lawyer also turned around wondering what it was, and a deliberately heavy voice was heard. Not only that, but there was also a strange hint of laughter in the voice.
“Who’s bullying my son of a bitch?”
“Woof woof.”
It was Lee Hyeonseok. His entrance was always dramatic, as usual. Not that he aimed for it or anything. It would be nice if he could speak nicely and be touching to the end, but calling me a son of a bitch. Just for now, I decided to gladly be one.
Everyone in the police station looked back and forth between me and Lee Hyeonseok, then looked at us as if we were absurd, pathetic, or perverts.
Ah, let them try being in my position.
